


There will come a soldier

by freaksout



Series: A game of chess [5]
Category: Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), marvel all
Genre: F/M, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark at MIT, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Maria Stark & Tony Stark - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Racism, Racist Language, Sick Character, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28780020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freaksout/pseuds/freaksout
Summary: When Rhodes started MIT he had considered many things... but not to be befriended by a genius boy whose name was Tony Stark! And most of all, he didn't expect to be the pawn in a international game of chess in which his life was at stake! But he was to become a soldier, and he would have defended his "little T" till the end of the game!
Relationships: Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Howard Stark & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Maria Stark & Tony Stark, Obadiah Stane/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: A game of chess [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029513
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Roommate of a genius

**Author's Note:**

> Tony Stark has been sent to MIT at 12 after his father Howard has discovered him kissing a boy; Howard had also fired Jarvis because he defended the boy from his father. While at MIT, Tony was the target of bad pranks and he couldn't sleep, until James "Rhodey" Rhodes's intervention. The two became like brothers for the following years...  
> And this is what happens during the MIT years to Rhodey & Tony!
> 
> As always, sorry for language mistakes and hope you enjoy!  
> [The story took place directly after the one-shot "The Golden Boy / part 1"]

James Rhodes was not sure of what he was expecting when he signed up for MIT college, one of the few black guys from an average family to have made his way there. There are indeed other “colored students”, as they called them, but the vast majority were white and rich guys. Girls were also quite a few, which was a really bad things. Well, that could be solved by a visit to the nearby campus of Humanities.

He had expected to have problems, but what he didn’t expect was to have been nominated (self-nominated, actally) nanny of a 12 years old white boy who looked like a child and seemed to have never had proper human interactions before.

But he wasn’t just socially awkward: the boy was literally a genius!

Since the beginning he understood things faster and better than everyone, and there was the rumor he has solved one of professor Pym’s equation in less than 3 minutes, while the professor and his assistants were debating over it for days.

He wasn’t sure why he had become so attached to this kid, but maybe it was simply because he couldn’t stand bullies!

And when he has seen a grown-up man throwing a kid down on the floor while everybody laughed, Rhodes didn’t think it twice but put himself between the two, and then he helped the little guy with his luggage and to reach his dorm.

He noticed that they gave him a private room, probably because his surname was Stark or because no one wanted to share the college room with a kid.

He hasn’t expected the kid to attach back to him like a chicken with the goose, but he didn’t completely dislike that.

Rhodes has always been quite a solitary guy, and the young Tony Stark seemed like the little brother he never had. He had nicknamed him “Rhodey”, and he liked it, so he had called him back “little T” because he was really shorter if compared to him. And he looked younger than his actual 12 years old… let's face it, Tony was damn cute!

For sure, he also acted really awkwardly, and sometimes he seemed that he has never had any friends of his age. The suspicion got confirmed when Rhodey has asked him directly.

Then the boy has surprised him by asking the director to let him share the room with James Rhodes.

For a moment he had to admit that he has been upset, just thinking that he was acting like every rich white brat he has met since then, but he has quickly realized that the little one was just being socially awkward and out of the world as always.

Plus, the kid seemed in desperate need to sleep, and he knew that the senior guys were playing bad pranks on freshmen and especially on the rich boy.

That was how James “Rhodey” Rhodes became college roommate with Anthony “Tony” Stark, son of a billionaire and already nominated the golden heir of an empire.

And Rhodey liked him, despite his young age, his awkwardness, his genius, and his flaws, like his childish nightmares or the fact he woke up not knowing where he was. Lucky for him, he almost always remembered who Rhodey was and he has never been scared of him. He was afraid of monsters made of smoke or something, and to calm him down Rhodey had to check under the bed and in the wardrobe.

Rhodey has noticed that college was really changing Tony Stark since their first encounter.

He didn’t know if it was that he dragged him in making sport or if it was just the normal growing factors, but in a couple of months his Little T. has turned from a shy weird nerd into a loudmouth and confident weird nerd.

He has also put on some weight and got a pair of centimeters, and even if he has still his childish face, his smile turned often to a more mature grin.

He still had problems with bullies, but he has learnt how to defeat them basically with words, even if Rhodey had thought him some basic self-defense and street-smart. The boy was indeed a quick learner in everything, and soon the guy who has thrown his luggage in the fountain found himself in the fountain without pants, and with an official note of suspension for indecency.

That stopped the majority of troubles, and also attracted many new ‘friends’ to both Tony and Rhodey.

Tony told Rhodes that he owed all the credits for his transformation, especially in improving his social skills in human-to-human communication (Rhodey had pointed out that it was weird to refer to communication that way…).

And since Tony has a scientific mind, he has autonomously decided that he needed more research materials, so instead of closing himself in the lab or in their room, he has started to wonder around the campus at night and at different parties (his money opened him many doors).

The result was that after two months, the boy was vomiting in their shared toilet because some assholes had given him more than one drink (and Rhodey hoped that it was only alcohol). Like a big brother he had made a mess with the assholes in question, but they had to keep it quiet before the director noticed it. After all, Tony was still underage!

And Tony himself seemed pretty scared at the idea his uncle knew that he has been intoxicated again… he didn’t add anything else, so Rhodey just wondered what he meant by “again”.

Despite the fact he was less socially awkward, Tony still preferred robots to humans, and he missed greatly his Dummy. He has told Rhodey everything about his friendly robot, so, under his suggestion, he built another one, which he called simply “R”... in Rhodey’s honor!

He did it as part of the mid-term task assigned to professor Johnson. And when R. solved a complex equation on his own, Johnson considered the young Stark has learnt everything it was possible to learn in the first and the second year course, and admitted him directly at the third one on six.

It was not an isolated case, so Tony had started the first semester as a freshmen in September and by December he was already in the third year, with rumors of many professors to want him directly at the fourth by June.

Rhodes was proud of him, even if he faked outrage with him just to mock the little genius. He made him the happiest kid in the world when he bought him a slice of cake to celebrate his success... literally, Tony was crying of joy! 

"Weirdo!" Rhodey thought. "Adorable little weirdo!"

Then it came Thanksgiving, and Rhodes was a bit surprise that the young Stark didn’t just run home like any other rich guys on campus.

“My parents are out of town, and my godfather is busy” he has told him instead.

For a moment, Tony had proposed to buy him tickets to go together by Rhodey’s parents, a favor for a favor, but then they realized that it was impossible because Tony was still underage and they needed his father’s official permission. And Tony didn't want to call him for this, like he hasn't called him since he has arrived there.

So Rhodey and Tony were already making plans to have special cheeseburgers instead of turkey, when the kid got summoned to the principal office for a phone call.

When he came back he was just sparkling with joy.

“It was Jarvis!” he said, jumping around like an excited puppy. “He has obtained my father’s permission to pick me up at the campus! We’re going to spend Thanksgiving together!”

“Oh!” Rhodes said, by trying his best to mask his disappointment.

It was happy to see Little T so excited, but he was sad that in the end it always ended this way: the rich guys had what they wanted, and he needed to step back.

So it was a bit astonished when he heard Tony urging him to hurry.

“I said, get dress, Rhodey! Jarvis was coming in two hours or so and we must meet him at the main entrance! And I need to make him a present…”

He had run away, probably directed to the lab, so Rhodes had to tailgate him: “Wait! What do you mean “we”? You’re going with your butler… I mean, your friend Jarvis. You haven’t seen him in months! You may want to pass time with him!”

He saw confusion on Tony’s face: he looked very childish and cute in those moments.

“Well, yes I want to spend time with Jarvis” he was saying. “But I also want to spend time with you and not to leave you alone on Thanksgiving… why do I have to choose? You’re both my friends!”

Rhodey stood, grateful but confused. “Well, but will Mr. Jarvis be okay with that?”

“Sure! I’ve already told him… he was glad to hear that I have a friend… like a human-living friend my age!”

“We are not the same age, T!” the big guy shout behind his back, by scrolling his head.

Tony emerged from the lab with what resembled a small box with fancy colors and engine wheels. “I have had no time for the aesthetic, but I hope he appreciated it!” he said.

They arrived at the main gate and there was already a common family car waiting on the front, with an old man waiting outside. He seemed so… well, Rhodey would have defined him “British” in lack of a better term.

“JARVIS!” Tony had practically screamed as he had launched himself over the man, hugging him.

Rhodey saw the man got rigid for a moment and mumbling something in line of “Not quite appropriate, young Mr. Stark!”, but then he hugged him back with a tender smile.

“You grew up” he noticed, ruffling his hair a bit. “But you are in a desperate need of a decent haircut, Mr. Stark. And who ironed your shirt?”

“I did!” the boy replied, proud. “Rhodey taught me how to. And I clean my room, and wash my clothes... I've also learnt how to use the dryer! Oh, and I took three meals a day… most of the time!”

Rhodes saw relief and tenderness in the old man smile.

Then he looked up at him and hold his hand: “Edwin Jarvis, it’s a real pleasure to meet Mr. Stark’s friend!”

“James Rhodes, a pleasure to meet you too, sir. Tony talked a lot about you!”

“I’m sure he did…” the old man seemed pleased.

Jarvis has come by car, so he drove them down to a restaurant, where he had reserved a table for them. It was a small restaurant run by a family of Italian immigrants, and Tony was fascinated by the old photos of Italian towns, factories and most of all cars. The owner was very pleased to talk to the kid the story behind each picture, and in particular of that time his great-uncle worked in Ferrari’s first factory.

“He is already thinking on how he could built one of that on his own!” Rhodey laughed.

“Indeed, sir!” Jarvis replied. “You got immediately his character!”

But then when Tony was jumping away again to ask something else on those fancy cars to the owner of the restaurant, Jarvis turned seriously to Rhodes and asked: “Did someone come to visit him? His father? His mother?”

“No, sir, no one came or called, apart from you this very morning” Rhodes replied.

Now that he thought of it, that was quite weird. He too had received called from his parents once a week in the common telephone room. Tony Stark seemed to have been parked there and forgotten by his parents.

He had known that they’d be out of town for Thanksgiving from the newspaper!

“Sad but not unexpected!” Jarvis commented. “And what about his godfather, Obadiah Stane? Did he ever come here?”

Rhodes knew of Obadiah Stane only from the pictures on the journals: a big muscular guy, with bald head and a big beard, always with a huge cigar in his mouth like they were in the damn old wild west.

Tony has referred to him as ‘uncle Obie’ or simply his godfather once or twice, but he didn’t put any pictures of him around the room, while he kept a very old picture showing his whole family, Jarvis included, when Rhodey guessed Tony was around 2 or 3.

“No, sir” he then replied to Jarvis. “I’ve never seen him around the campus.”

He noticed that the old man visibly relaxed.

“May I ask you a favor, Mr. Rhodes?” he asked him after a while.

“Yes, sir, of course!”

The old man looked him straight in the eyes and said: “Could you let me know if Mr. Stane would come at the campus and look for Tony?”

He must have frowned because the man quickly added: “I know it may sound inappropriate, and surely it is not part of your duties to take care for Mr. Stark’s well-being. But I’d be extremely grateful if you could do me this small favor… while I’m already grateful that you’re taking care of my young boy!”

“What are you conspiring about?” Tony asked, by jumping again at his place, a very happy look on his still childish face.

“About your meat getting cold, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis replied. “Do I need to cut it like we used to just to force you to eat it?”

Tony blushed violently. “Nonsense, Jarvis! I’m almost a man… look: I’m growing a beard!”

“That’s not a beard, little T! That’s just one single proud hair growing by accident on your chin!” Rhodey laughed at Tony’s major discomfort.

“This is the first step towards a beard! Tell him, Jarvis! And one of you should teach me how to shave!”

All the grown-ups were laughing quite hard, while Tony played the offended.

But his humor changed to happy again when they reached the dessert and he gave Jarvis his small present.

“Oh! Mr. Stark you shouldn’t…” the old butler was on verge of tears while he tried to figure out what was it.

“It’s an alarm” Tony explained. “I’ve used an old clock in the lab… hope professor Smith doesn’t mind! By the way, you regulated here like this for the hour and the minutes, and instead of a loud noise, you’ll heard my voice! It should also bright a bit, but I’m not sure on how long the batteries would last… do you like it Jarvis?”

And now Rhodey could tell that there were small tears dropping down the man’s eyes, while he caressed the boy’s face and said: “Thank you… Tony!”

As expected, Tony hugged him again, and Rhodey thought he would have better to use the restroom to give them some space.

They spend another couple of hours just walking around the city, then Tony insisted that Jarvis should visit his lab at the MIT to introduce himself to his new robot R, but they couldn’t do that without a permission… and it was late, Jarvis explained, so no need to risk their luck after such a beautiful day!

Then Tony asked about Dummy, and Jarvis said that his father had put it in Tony’s room and the robot seemed to have entered a sort of sleeping modality while his young master wasn’t around, or at least that was what Tony’s mother told him.

“Did father really fire you?” Tony asked, astonished.

“Well, Mr. Stark, it tends to happen when you punched your former employer right in the face…” the old man replied nonchalantly.

Rhodes couldn’t believe to have heard correctly, but then Tony turned to him and explained: “Dad was drunk and he was beating me with his belt… Jarvis made him stop!”

“Wow…” Rhodey’s respect for Mr. Jarvis has just reached top scores, while his mind hasn’t still processed Tony’s last words.

“Please, Mr. Stark, refrain yourself from telling this story out loud” Jarvis was urging Tony.

“Why? For my surname or my father’s damn company?!” the boy was pissed, and like everything, Tony could change his humor very quickly.

Rhodes has already seen quite of his stubborn tantrums to recognize one coming.

“Which is also your company, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis calmly replied. “There will always be a Stark at Stark Industries, remember? But most of all because I could have to endure serious consequences if this rumor went out… you see, someone could open a case for assault, and I can’t afford it. So, are we cool, Mr. Stark?”

Rhodey saw Tony’s mind trying to connect the dots, and by his expression he noticed that there was a missing variable. But then the boy calmed down.

“Okay, fine, Jarvis!” he exclaimed. “We won’t talk about this again… but you should buy me an ice-cream now!”

“With this cold, T?” Rhodes asked, perplexed.

“I agree with Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Stark. Maybe a hot chocolate would be nice?”

They went for the chocolate and then Jarvis drove them back at their dorm. Rhodey waited for Tony inside while he was hugging goodbye to his former butler.

When the boy came back inside, Rhodes noticed that he must have cried. He stayed silent for the rest of the evening, just watching at the gift Jarvis must have given him as a present.

When Tony left the letter on the bed to go take a shower, Rhodey couldn’t refrain himself from quickly looking at his content: it was a disc with the song “Soldier, poet, king”. Jarvis must have written a special dedication for Tony: “ _To my boy, remember there will come a ruler, whose brow is laid in thorn… Your almost father, Jarvis”_

Rhodey recognized immediately those as the lines of the song Tony mumbled when he woke up with nightmares. And the signature made him pondering that maybe the life of the "golden boy" was not so sparkling after all!

But he couldn’t wonder too much overTony's life because the mid-term exams were approaching and he had tons of homework and essays to worry about: thank the Gods, the little genius seemed more than well-disposed to help him!

____________________________________________________________________

They went to their respective homes for Christmas and they didn’t meet for 3 weeks.

Tony called him on the 25th and he looked really excited to be back at MIT. But when Rhodes tried to call him back on the New Year he was told that Mr. Stark was not at home. He tried by his uncle Stane, but a woman (Stane's wife maybe?) told him that Mr. Stark wasn’t feeling well. Tony called him a couple of days later to say that it was nothing, he has just catched a cold. He said also he couldn’t wait to be at MIT again, maybe until the 11th of January.

Back in college everybody got tense for the exams, including the little genius, when he finally arrived. He seemed a bit wasted, and Rhodey wondered what kind of cold he had managed to catch during the holidays. But Tony said he had nothing to worry about, and all he talked from that moment on was about lessons, essays, homeworks and, obviously, exams!

Indeed, Tony has been admitted to 3rd years courses: nobody really expected him to do the exams that session, but he was just quite stubborn in proving something.

Since he was quite busy too, Rhodes made sure that at least Tony had his breakfast with him in the morning, and then he stuffed their room with all sorts of snacks, chips and other out-of-fridge comfort food. They lived on those items for weeks, making turns for coffee and food from the machines.

And after all their effort, the session was quite a success for both of them!

Rhodey shouldn’t have been surprised to see the titles on the news praising the young genius.

What he surprised him was that Tony’s father didn’t called him or shown up on campus, and neither did Jarvis. Only the boy’s mother called him once, and Tony seemed very happy but also sad to hear her voice.

“She’s sick… Speaking is really extenuating for her... but she said she's proud!” he told him later. He didn’t add anything else and Rhodey didn’t dare to ask.

If Tony was disappointed by his father's behavior he didn’t make it evident, by limiting at organizing a party in the common room to celebrate the end of the winter session together.

He told Rhodey to have noticed that people were kinder and happier to have him around when he gave them something they liked: it was a dangerous attitude, Rhodey thought, but at least they have stopped to (try to) throw his Little T in the fountain or in the garbage tank.

Then he and Tony started to attend the second term courses, and Tony was just playing around in the lab on one of his new projects.

Rhodey and other freshmen were allowed there only on special occasions, but Tony and other brilliant senior students had a special pass. And his friend has created a new one with a fake code to let him through.

Since most of the time it was a quiet place, Rhodes liked to study there, also because he could asked for Tony’s help every now and then.

And Tony liked to have him around because he could do two things at the same time, and that helped him a lot, or so he said. Plus, this way Rhodey made sure the little genius had food and drink enough to survive the day, since he had noticed that this was one of Tony’s major flaw.

One afternoon they were just there like always when the director arrived together with a flock of professors and a tall man Rhodey’s immediately recognized as the vice-CEO of Stark Industries Obadiah Stane. He was indeed tall and muscular like he appeared on television, and he had his famous cigar in his mouth.

“Hi, Obie!” cheered Tony.

Rhodey didn't know why, but his tone sounded fake. He also took the mental note that Tony didn’t run towards him like he did with Jarvis a few months before. Maybe he was growing up... 

“If this isn’t my golden boy!” Stane replied, by patting on his shoulder. “How are you doing here?”

“Fine, fine, Obie! Look: I was just finishing this robotic leg. Theoretically, it could help people with major spinal injuries to stand… but it’s a prototype, and I’ve to calibrate the weight!”

“Mr. Stark is one of our most talented student here, Mr. Stane!” the director quickly added. He seemed to have just noticed Rhodes and he asked: “And you… are?”

“James Rhodes, sir!” he replied, swallowing.

He was screwed, he knew the second they’ve entered there: he wasn’t supposed to be there.

“He’s helping me, sir!” Tony said with a huge smile. “I needed someone taller and stronger than myself to test this! Besides, Mr. Rhodes is very reliable!”

“Oh, right! Right! Mr. Rhodes, of course!” the director said. “I should have remembered your roommate, Mr. Stark!”

“Roommate?” Stane asked to Tony. “Weren’t you supposed to have a room on your own?”

Rhodes could see the tension on Tony’s part, and how he opened and closed his mouth like he was trying to find air for his lungs.

“I help Mr. Stark around, Mr. Stane” Rhodes said, holding his hand towards the man. “James Rhodes, sir, a pleasure to finally meet you! Tony had talked a lot about how you and Mr. Stark senior had built the company!”

He made have said something right, because the man smiled at him while shaking his hand, and complimenting Mr. Rhodes for the patience in managing _his_ golden boy.

Rhodes didn’t know why but the man scared him: being near him was like swimming in a pod where you know lives an alligator. Or a shark.

Then Mr. Stane told Tony that he was in town for business, and that he wished that he attended those negotiations on behalf of his father who was, once again, in Artic looking for Captain America.

They would have had dinner together, then, and he could have taken care of him, he assured the director.

Nobody found weird that Tony didn’t appear quite enthusiast at the perspective, like he always was about everything.

“Hey, little T, are you all right?” Rhodes asked when the other collected his stuff to follow the other men.

“Yeah, fine! You don’t need to worry, Rhodey!” he smiled at him. “See you tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow?” Rhodey thought, but then they were gone.

And he believed that it was better if they didn’t find him still there when they eventually came back.

Still he found all the situation a bit awkward, and he remembered to have half-promised Jarvis to let him know if Mr. Stane appeared at the campus. Since he felt responsibility, he tried to call him from the common phone in the corridor, but apparently he wasn't at home.

“I’ll try later!” Rhodey thought. But then he had so many problems on his own that he simply forgot. In the future, he would have cursed himself for this!

Tony disappeared for two days and Rhodey was starting to get worried when the little genius went back.

He had a black eye that he said has been caused by his distraction: he was running up and down the stairs, he told him, and he fell off badly. He had other bruises around, but he said to have been lucky that his face would remain pretty.

That was the only unusual thing that happened that spring, so Rhodey quickly forgot about it.

Tony’s nightmares are like always, and he had become an habit for the bigger guy to let the small one sleep with his hoodie. It seemed to calm him down…

It was three times Tony’s size and when he wore it he was just the cutest thing Rhodes has ever seen. The all dorm thought the same, apparently, and pictures of Tony making breakfast or taking coffee at the machines with Rhodey's hoodie have started to circulate in the campus.

While summer was approaching, and so were the exams, everyone was again quite tense.

Conversely, Tony seemed extremely relaxed, even if his humor seemed to be on a roller coaster, especially when he had to meet with Mr. Stane. His godfather should have started a business in town, because he was around more often than usual, and everytime he insisted to check on his 'golden boy' as he kept calling him.

Rhodes thought that at least someone in the family was checking on Tony, but he was a bit worried by Tony's lack of enthusiasm. But then Little T reassured him, by telling that he was tense because there were problems at home, and that he was seriously worried for his father.

Rhodey thought better to mind his own business: if Tony wanted to talk about it, he knew where to find him.

One afternoon, Rhodey was as always in their room, when he saw Tony running inside, giggling like a boy who has stolen the jam from the pantry. Only that it wasn’t the jam!

“Are you interested in the drafts of the exams of professor Smith, Stern, Johnson and Cho?” he asked.

“Are you serious?” Rhodey gasped. “Which year?”

“EVERY YEAR!” Tony had really the face of the mischief. “I’ve entered the school system and cracked their computers. I may have taken a look at the scores of our recent exams with professor Pym… and congratulations, Rhodey, you’ve passed!”

Rhodes couldn’t believe it: the MIT system was one of the most secured in the world, maybe second only to the Pentagon and the CIA. He knew that Tony was a genius, but this level of genius he wasn’t expecting.

Genius and mischief, he meant.

Tony usually acted like the good boy who just wanted to be praised… maybe by growing up he was developing an hidden side. A potentially dangerous dark side… but Rhodes was around 20 years old himself and didn’t care too much about that, but only on the drafts for the exam.

He looked quickly through the drafts.

“You are a genius!” he exclaimed. “High five, T!”

The boy was extremely satisfied and launched on his bed.

“What do we do with the other drafts, Rhodey?” he asked then. “I mean, we should sell them o just give them to the others?”

Rhodey looked at him. “Are you out of your mind? This is a golden mine! Of course, you should sell it!”

He nodded. “As I thought… but in that case I need you to join in as my partner: we make fifty-fifty, and you’d be in charge of the selling part. I- I don’t play well with numbers!”

“Excuse me?” Rhodey couldn’t believe it. “You don’t play well with… but if you solved professor Pym’s equation in less than 3 minutes!”

“Yes, an equation… theoretical, abstract… we are talking about financial stuff here! Basic finance, okay, but still my mind refused the very notion of it! It’s like the date system, you know? Or the damn clock!”

Rhodey has noticed to his major astonishment that the genius Tony Stark didn’t grasp the calendar and that he didn’t know how to read a normal clock. That was why he used a fancy one with numbers instead of the hands… but still the notions of time are a little blurred to him.

He had mocked him a bit, before realizing that he was a little scared about this flaw of his, and panicked he would tell someone. So Rhodey had to promise him to never refer to it again.

But now the situation was difficult. He saw the incoming possibilities but also the risks associated to that specific trade.

“What happened if we got caught?” he asked Tony.

The boy just shrugged his shoulders: “I will assume full responsibility! You can simply state that I’ve asked you to pass some letters around for me, and that you knew nothing. Have you noticed how everyone seemed to act more relaxed when they consider you like my butler or something? Which is quite awkward and upsetting, but still… If they are dumb racist, we must play it back on them! What do you think?”

Rhodey was just a bit astonished: in less than a year the child has completely changed! Now he scared him a bit on the possibility of what he could become… but still, his proposal was damn good and funny!

“Let’s do this, T!” he exclaimed.

In less than one day they had the queue outside their room, in the corridors, everywhere.

Tony was really happy to have all these new “friends”, and they had to use a shoe box to manage the money.

Still, Tony modified the traces for some people, and made someone else paid double. By knowing the assholes Tony was referring to, Rhodey believed he was damn right.

Their little game ended with the exams, and with the surprising high results of every single student in the campus... with some noticeable exceptions!

And those exceptions, being the assholes they all knew they wore, tattled to the principal that Mr. Stark and Mr. Rhodes had hacked the drafts of the exams and sold them to everyone… everyone but them, because they were very honest and haven’t accepted!

So the director summoned them, and Rhodey was just terrified by the perspectives. Conversely, Tony acted chill.

“I can swear on my honor as a Stark that we have absolutely nothing to do in this matter!” the boy said.

His voice was starting to crack but he has still his childish face, and he has learnt how to play with his big puppy brown eyes the girls seemed so fond of.

“That was not what Mr. Hammer had told us, Mr. Stark!” the director replied, but still he didn’t seem very upset.

It was quite difficult to blame a child-looking 13 years old for having cracked the MIT security protocols. Even if said kid was Tony Stark. And Hammer was universally known to be an asshole!

“Mr. Hammer told us that you and Mr. Rhodes were selling the drafts to every student around… but he and his friends have refused because they are honest persons.”

“Well, so honest not to have reported a possible crime…” it slipped to Rhodey’s lips.

“Indeed!” Tony quickly took the hint. “And by the way, director, how should I be interested in such a pitiful trade? Doesn’t it occur to Mr. Hammer that I am, I beg your pardon for the vulgar expression, rich as fuck? What will be my point in selling drafts to students for 20 dollars the page?”

“TONY!!!” Rhodey thought.

The director has noticed it too. “How do you know it was 20 dollars the page, Mr. Stark?” he asked, by narrowing his eyes.

Tony moved a bit on the chair, but he didn’t lose eye contact.

“Okay okay, fine! I confess: I’m guilty!” he said.

Rhodey thought it was their end, but then the little genius added: “I admit that I was very nervous for the exams, so I’ve asked to Mr. Hammer at what price he sold the questions… but then I’ve realized that they were cheating because those wore last term proofs! So I’ve suggested to Mr. Rhodes here and to other friends not to fall in Mr. Hammer’s trap! So, you see, nobody actually cheated… a part from Mr. Hammer and associates, I mean!”

The face of the director spoke everything. He told them to remain silent and right where they were, while he did a small check by himself on the main computer.

Rhodey saw Tony winkling at him.

After a moment, the director shouted outraged: apparently the leak was linked to Mr. Hammer’s account!

The director was simply mad at Mr. Hammer, who got suspended and possibly threw out college.

Tony and Rhodey laughed so hard when they were back in their room, that they had tears in their eyes.

“I don’t know how you did it, but you were a damn genius, Tony!” Rhodey said.

“You’re damn right! I am a genius! That dumbass doesn’t simply stand a chance!”

“Oh, I’m going to miss you this summer, little T!”

“Me too, Rhodey! Me too!”

_________________________________________________________

When Tony turned 14 he looked like he has finally passed from kid to teen in one night.

He was still shorter than Rhodes, but he was surely taller than before… and he was always terribly hungry!

His face was still a bit childish, and Rhodey told him that unless he managed to grow a real beard he would always looked younger than his age. Which would have come at aid 20 or 30 years from then.

But the most amazing difference was not in Tony’s body, but in his behavior. He has always been weird but now it seemed he didn’t care at all of what people thought about him.

That he had a loud mouth it has become evident even after the first semester, but now he really exaggerated with the other mates, and sometimes also with the professors. Many have overtly lamented of how arrogant the young Stark was, and how he ashamed them in class.

And Tony being Tony had just made a matter of honor to point out more of their flaws during lessons, or, when he has been banned from their class, to let everyone know that in different ways.

He also took the habit to crack the MIT system every week, always managing not to get caught. Every student knew about that, but they were all keeping that silent (especially after what has happened to Mr. Hammer!).

And Tony and Rhodes had started a small trading on porn movies, which Rhodey was trying to avoid Tony to watch (but miserably failing), and again of exam drafts at every term. Since they didn’t want to risk their luck again, they sold only to a selected clientele (under Rhodey’s suggestion).

However Tony’s attitude increased the teaching committee negative statements against “the little brat”, how they’ve started to call him.

But Tony didn’t mind: he was now pretty conscious to be more genial than the majority of them, to be rich and, most of all, not to bother for their opinion.

Still, some professors liked him and he liked them back.

One of them was professor Pym, who argued with Tony at the highest possible volume whenever they disagreed, which was a good amount of times, but in the end he was glad of the fight, and took every member of his staff out for a coffee.

On that respect, Rhodes has noticed that coffee has become a sort of addiction for Tony (again, despite his age), together with sweeties of every sort, especially blueberries with sugar.

He wasn’t really difficult to find him not chewing something or drinking coffee.

And that ended with the kid not managing to sleep and having black circles under his eyes that even the make-up (Tony had make-up, yes) could cover. So Rhodey had once again to be the mother hen and counted his coffee… at least when they were together.

He also proposed Tony to take something to sleep, but he had a reaction on the verge of hysteria, like Rhodes was telling him something indecent. He had quite a moment to calm him down, and Tony made him promise to never give him pills or meds without his explicit consent. That was really awkward, Rhodey thought, but once he had promised, Tony calmed down and didn’t want to talk about it.

The other awkward fact happened when professor Pym summoned Rhodes in his office out of nothing, and asked him something about Tony, how he was doing, if he managed to sleep, and if he had noticed something out of order.

Rhodey didn’t get exactly what was going on, especially because they were in the middle of the exams and he was lacking sleep too other than being tense like a violin.

But it seemed to him that professor Pym was worried about something he didn’t get, since little T was weird and fine as always! But Rhodey told him about Tony's usual nightmares and that he was worried because of his parents, or at least that was what his uncle Stane told him when he picked him up. 

Professor Pym carefully listened to him, and then he dismissed him without a word. They never talked about Tony again, and Rhodey quickly forgot about that!

As expected, Rhodes was still troubling with his exams when Tony graduated with top scores.

As sort of dissertation, he has projected a neural network that automatically evolved basing on the input he received. In his thesis, which Rhodey helped him writing down when Tony mysteriously and accidentally broke up his wrist, the little genius argued that this AI could re-invent itself and hypothesize it could develop a personality if memories were implemented.

Some of the discussants argued that it was a pure childish fantasy, by mocking him in the public discussion. So, Tony simply asked everyone to chat with his AI, which managed to sustain an autonomous “conversation” and to call the said discussants "dumbass". That turned everyone enthusiast (everyone but the said discussants who have just been insulted by a computer!).

Even Tony’s father made his appearance at the graduation ceremony, most likely to stand for the press near his brilliant son.

“This thing of yours” Howard Stark asked Tony, who seemed so proud that his father was talking to him, “how do you think it could be transformed into a weapon?”

The boy seemed a little disappointed. “I haven’t designed it as a weapon…”

“I know, but that’s what Stark Industries primarily does, Tony!” his father had replied. Then he noticed the tall black guy standing nearby and asked: “How can I help you, son?”

“I- I just wanted to congratulate with Tony… Mr. Stark!”

“RHODEY!” Tony exclaimed. Then he had introduced him to his father: “Dad, this is James Rhodes, my roommate, remember? He’s quite brilliant too and very well organized!”

Mr. Stark senior shook his hand by giving him an interrogative look that made Rhodes swallowing.

“Your roommate eh?” he asked.

“Yes, dad… _only_ my roommate!” Tony specified, by looking a bit worried. There was an implicit Rhodey was failing at getting.

“Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Rhodes!” Stark senior said, by shaking his hand. “I think we should recommend young brilliant guys as yourself. What do you want to do next, son?”

“I am considering the Army, sir…”

“O-oh! The good old uncle Sam will be glad to have you. Well, let me make some phone calls then and you might be able to finish your college by being still in the Army!”

“I- thank you, sir!” Rhodes were really astonished.

He saw a sparkle of jealousy in Tony’s eyes, but then he smiled at him one of his warm smiles, and everything was perfect again.

_____________________________________________

“What will you do now, T?” Rhodes asked, when Tony was collecting his stuff from their room.

“I don’t know, honestly... I suppose I’ll work with my father at the Stark Industries. He was particularly interested on that AI, but I’ve already many other projects in mind… like, did I mention to you the flying suits? Would it be great to have soldiers flying around like shining knights? And that I can always perfecting new missiles and things like that if my father wants me too…”

Rhodey knew that every time Tony spoke that much it was because he was upset. And now the reason was pretty obvious.

So the big guy just forced the little one to turn towards him, and he was not surprised to find his eyes filled with tears.

He hugged him tight and said: “I’ll miss you, little T!”

“I’m already missing you, Rhodey!” the kid mumbled. “Please, don’t stop calling… even if I can’t answer, don’t stop looking for me! Promise me, Rhodey!”

It was a weird request… but Rhodey was used to weirdness when Tony Stark was involved, so he simply said: 

“I promise, T!”


	2. The Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey hasn't realized how important his friendship has been for Tony, and how much Tony has counted on him... until it was almost too late!  
> [the last part of the chapter takes something back from "The ballad of the red-haired girl", last 2 chapters, but just an hint]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: there is mention of an anxiety attack caused by being in a closed dark space. If you suffer of claustrophobia, please be aware of that!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the last chapet of the soldier's POW... and how it intertwines with the previous chapters of the story and the future ones.  
> As always, apologies for language mistakes.

Rhodey felt really lonely without his little genius around to take care of, and to make good pranks and mischiefs with. He remained faithful to his promised and called him once a week, even when, and it was unfortunately the vast majority of the time, Tony couldn’t answer and then didn’t called him back.

And since Tony hated writing down by hand, it was impossible he would have written him a letter.

But Rhodey didn’t mind: he was reading of the Stark “golden boy” on every financial journal, and soon also in the scientific paper on engineer and mechanic he and his mates usually read.

So, he was not surprised to witness that the MIT director was inviting Tony Stark, now aged 16, to give a talk at the opening of the new academic year, two weeks from that day.

He was more surprised when the director called him, James Rhodes, in his office, with extreme urgency.

The first thing he noted were the two big guys with the same suit outside the director’s door.

Then, when he was allowed in, he found Tony in a fancy blue suit that aged him a bit, but not enough, with the attitude of the one who owns the whole world while he was chatting with the director. He missed only a glass of wine and he was the perfect stereotypical image of power.

“Rhodey!” he exclaimed as soon as he saw him, by jumping from his chair.

He hugged him in a very manly way, but still it was an hug, and a huge contrast with the previous attitude.

Rhodey smiled by considering that Tony was still a child at heart.

“Mr. Rhodes, I’m glad you’ve managed to come here!” the director said, unimpressed. “Mr. Stark has specifically required your assistance for a special project to be started in our labs in the following days and to be presented at the inauguration of the academic year.”

“Sure, sir! I’ll be glad to help Little T…. I mean, Mr. Stark!” he replied.

Tony laughed. “You can still call me Little T, Rhodey! I’ve grown up but I think I’d never be as tall as you are!”

“I’ve told Mr. Stark we could provide him a proper housing for the time he will spend here, but he has asked us if he could share the room with you as you used to when he was a student here… Obviously we should greatly consider this favor from your part, Mr. Rhodes!”

“It seems like I can’t say no…damn Tony!” he thought, and then aloud: “Certainly! It would be my pleasure!”

Tony was just giggling and twisting around, friendly with everybody while they were marching all the way down to their previous dorm.

“Still alone, I see!” he said, jumping on his former bed.

“Not every night, T!” he replied, by pushing the teen’s feet off the bedroom.

Tony grinned. “A-ah good job, Rhodey! I’m just curious someone likes your ugly face!”

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about, T!”

“What makes you thing that?” he winked.

Rhodes feels uncomfortable. “Tony you’re still underage…”

“Oh gosh! You seem Jarvis!” he laughed, but then he suddenly turned sad.

“What’s wrong, T? Something happened to your friend?”

“I- I don’t know really…” he replied. “He has just disappeared… I called him for my birthday, you know? I- I wasn’t allowed… but I did it… We talked a lot… I told him I miss him, I need him! But when I asked to see him, he said that it wasn’t possible, that he couldn’t explain but that he couldn’t come closer to me or my family again…”

“Come closer?” Rhodey asked, suspicious. “Wait! Has it something to do with the two though guys that was following you everywhere?”

“Bodyguards!” Tony nodded. “And no, I don’t think so… Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on! My father was growing hysterical recently, like he’s on the verge of a paranoia! One morning I was going to the lab, and he said that those gentlemen were following me everywhere to protect me… still, I don’t know from what! And my mother has closed himself in the house and never went out if she wasn’t with my dad, but only very rarely. I don’t know if she has depression or something… they don’t tell me anything!”

“And I read on the journals your father also argued with his vice Obadiah Stane” Rhodes added. It was on every financial journal, with the hypothesis of a crisis of Stark Industries.

Tony had suddenly turn dark and awkward.

“That… was a private issue…” he mumbled, scratching his left arm.

“Are you all right, T?” Rhodey asked sincerely worried.

“U-uhm… nothing to worry about!” he smiled, but to Rhodey he didn’t seem completely honest. “Now, let’s go grab something to eat! Did they still have that awful pizza at the cafeteria?”

“Sure thing! But we can take something outside the campus maybe…”

“Nah! Pizza’s fine! Besides, I can’t leave the campus: father’s orders!”

They went to dinner and then just wonder around the campus, always with the two bodyguards following them. Rhodey thought how Tony could live with that but he seemed fine.

He offered the two big guys pizza, and Rhodes watched as they politely refused, but in the end they were forced to take a slice.

And Tony kept talking and talking until they eventually went to bed, and Rhodes was partially asleep.

“Good night, T!” he muffled, turning the light off.

“Hey, Rhodey?” he heard Tony’s soft voice calling him. “Do you… do you still have an extra hoodie?”

“Sure, grab one from the wardrobe if you’re cold…” Rhodes replied already half asleep.

He wasn’t sure but he believed to have heard Tony’s mumbling: “ _There will come a soldier…oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh Lord…_ ”

________________________________________________________

Next day in the lab, Tony was frustrated by knowing that Rhodes has changed size and height.

“What do you mean you’re taller??? And what about your pounds???” he shouted to him. “Do you consider that I have to recalculate everything by this?! Oh Great Lord! You want me death!”

Rhodes didn’t understand why Tony seemed so upset until he saw the project he was working on.

“Top secret, Rhodey!” Tony warned him. “It’s a new thing for the Pentagon or the CIA… I don’t know! That should be Obadiah’s job! Or was… don’t know! Don’t care now! My job is to make this thing up and possibly flying! But now you’ve tanned so I have to recalculate…”

Rhodey thought to be dreaming when he saw the projects: Tony was indeed building a suit for soldiers to fight inside, like shining knights on the field.

“Did it work?” he asked, astonished.

Tony raised his eyes from the projects.

“Theoretically…” he replied. “But I don’t know yet, and for some reasons, my father didn’t want me to create this stuff at Stark Industries’ lab… that’s why I’m here: dad has asked his old friend Pym to host me there so that I may finish this project. But I’m not sure I can now…”

“Because I’ve tanned?” Rhodes asked incredulous. Then he was hit by the implications and asked: “Wait, Tony! Aren’t you saying that I’d be the one supposed to fly with this??!”

The boy smirked. “Who do you think I was imagining as my mighty soldier?”

Rhodes was astonished.

“It’s your ticket in the Army, Rhodey” Tony continued. “Or that’s what my dad said… he seemed very concerned for your well-being, he said you’re brilliant… he likes you, I think!”

“Tony, I’m sure your father loves you deeply!”

“We’re way past this phase, Rhodey!” the other sadly replied. He looked at a distant point: “I don’t know what happened but the more I think of it, the more I felt I must have done something wrong to make things go where they are now… so if I make this thing up, maybe everything will turn just fine and we’ll eat the cake together…”

He was trying not to cry, that was evident, so Rhodey thought to do as always and hugged him a bit.

He was surprised when Tony gently pushed him away.

“I’m fine! I’m not a child anymore…” he whispered. Then he forced a smile and asked: “Could you grab me a coffee? Then I’ll show you how this war machine is supposed to work?”

“You seriously haven’t called it War Machine, I hope!”

“I haven’t till now! Very well Rhodey, you’ll be the first War Machine!”

They worked for days, even if in reality most of the time it was Tony working alone in the lab, with nobody allowed passed the two bodyguards, with the exception of Rhodes, and, as he discovered one evening, professor Pym.

Tony must have given him something, and the old man seemed greatly worried.

“If you ever need something else, Tony, you know you can call me, okay? Me and your father have worked together, and I consider him a friend!” Rhodey heard the professor saying to Tony, while he came in with two giants pepperoni pizza.

“I know… I know… thank you, professor Pym! Please, be careful…” Tony replied without interrupting his work. He was assembling a sort of fire propulsion.

Pym noticed Rhodey and said goodbye.

“Take a look on him, son!” he told to Rhodey while he passed next to him to get out.

The guy wondered what he meant.

They were all acting quite weird, like there was a storm coming.

His reasoning was distracted by Tony’s cry of pain: “That damn son of a bitch!” 

He was holding his left arm, and when Rhodey rushed there he noticed that he had cut himself badly.

But Tony didn’t seem to notice, since he was focused on cursing and kicking the propulsion on the floor.

“And you should learn to stay at your place!” he shouted.

Finally Rhodey managed to calm him down and to drag him to the sick bay, when a doctor was frantically called and gave him 5 points. He wanted also to give him some pills for the pain, but Tony firmly refused by saying he was allergic.

“Since when?” Rhodes asked.

“A couple of years… I had an intoxication…” he mumbled.

Tony wanted to come back to work, but Rhodey persuaded him to get some rest in their room. They could take something else to eat, if he was hungry (which he knew Tony always was!).

They were on their way when they felt a tremble from the ground.

“An earthquake?” someone asked aloud. Then they saw the fire coming from a point where the lab was located.

“What the…?” Rhodey asked. But then he was distracted by the two bodyguards grabbing Tony and shouting: “Emergency protocol, secure the boy!”

He tailgated them because they were not running to the dorms.

Instead they went into the director room and in a no-panic room disguised behind a library. They pushed Tony inside and both the boy and Rhodes behind them had to scream aloud to let the second guy joining him.

“Stay there and don’t move, Mr. Stark! It’s for your own good!” the two tough men said by closing them in.

“Where’s the light?” Rhodey asked touching around.

He could hear only his voice and Tony… well Tony was panting quite hard, like someone who was experiencing a panic attack.

“T! Keep calm, I’m here… where are… oh here you are!” even in the darkness he has found his friend, and he was now hugging him, feeling his heart rushing into his chest at an impossible speed.

Then he remembered: Tony was scared of darkness, and scared to be where he didn’t know.

The boy was indeed trembling hard, in vivid panic.

And the two big men wanted to let him there alone? They seemed very scared as well, but still… damn!

“Okay Tony… calm down, okay? We’re together! I’m here with you… close your eyes and just here my voice, okay? How was that song you kept singing in the dorm? _There will come a soldier_ …”  
“… _who carries a mighty sword_ …” he heard Tony mumbling on his chest. “ _He will tear your city down, oh lei-oh lai-oh Lord… Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh Lord_ …”

They had to repeat the whole song three times, but finally Tony seemed to have calmed down, even if he was still breathing hard. And he kept repeating a riddle that sounded like “The secret pawn hides under the clock…” and what appeared to be a phone number.

Rhodey tried to ask about that, but Tony kept mumbling it without answer. And Rhodey was not really calm as well: what if something has happened to the bodyguards and nobody knew they were there? What if they were just evacuating the whole campus and they were left behind? How could they exit a panic room? And what has happened in the laboratory?

He didn’t know how much time has passed but they must have fallen asleep because when someone opened the panic room he saw the daylight.

“I told you, he’s here! He’s fine!” he heard the director’s voice talking, and then waving at them to come out.

Tony was a bit confused, half-asleep and half with the after-effects of the situation. And neither him or Rhodey have eaten or drunk anything since the lunch of the day before.

When they emerged in the director’s office they saw that the principal wasn’t alone, but that he had other professors around and Stark’s former partner Obadiah Stane, who was not smoking his famous cigar and appeared really wasted.

“Oh Tony! You’re fine! I was losing hopes!” he exclaimed and before Tony could add something he hugged him firmly like he was imposing control over him.

Rhodey noted how Tony stood tense, and, also, he seemed to him that Stane was glancing at him a malevolent look. For sure he wasn’t expecting to find him there as well.

“What- what happened?” Tony managed to say.

The silence that felt didn’t predict anything good.

“Have a sit, boy!” Stane was saying, and then he gave him a glass of water and almost forced him to drink a bit.

Nobody seemed to remember of Rhodes, who just stood there and witnessed to all the scene.

He witnessed at Obadiah telling Tony that it has been an attack on the campus because someone has heard on what he was working on… they were in the middle of a spy war between the US and some terroristic organization named Hydra.

They wanted what Tony was creating, and they wanted Tony as well. But lucky for them all, his father’s bodyguards have protected him.

“Where are they?” Tony asked. “Carl and Jacob… the bodyguards… are they fine?”

Obadiah shook his head. “I’m sorry, boy… they found them dead not far from your dorm room. Gun shots… and they weren’t the only victims! We have had five or six casualties among students as well”

Tony gasped, eyes opened in fear: “No! If they were looking for me, why…”

“I’m sorry, my boy, but that’s how these things go!” Obadiah replied. “I’ve told you father that this could be a risk… Besides, the director here has offered you a private accommodation, but you have insisted with the common dorm…”

Tony lowered his head, the sense of guilty oppressing him. But that wasn’t fair and so Rhodey told out loud: “That’s ridiculous! It’s not your fault, Tony, if those guys are dead! They were doing their job! And you couldn’t know…”

“I am afraid, Mr. Rhodes, but Mr. Stark knew what was going on, when he was sent there!” Stane replied to him. Rhodey felt like he was being studied by a butcher who evaluated the parts of a living cow.

“It’s okay, Rhodey” Tony’s voice was but a whisper. “I- I made a mistake… people got hurt… I need to fix this… dad… dad will help me fixing this!”

Obadiah’s gasp was perfectly audible.

Tony’s eyes widen while he jumped up and screamed. “What happened, Obie? Tell me that my father is fine!”

“I’m so sorry, my boy!” the big man replied, tears in his eyes. He put one of his big hand over Tony’s shoulder and said: “I was just being informed as I arrived here: there was an assassination yesterday evening in New York. Your father was driving and they… well there was a car crash with a trunk, but apparently it wasn’t enough. They had to kill them with shot guns… they found cases everywhere on the street… there are few doubts: Howard Stark has been assassinated!”

The silence that felt was thick, and all eyes were on Tony who was just fixing a point on the floor, by trying to process the man’s words.

Then he looked up at him and with a trembling voice said: “You said _them_ … that they had to kill _them_ with guns… what do you mean _them_ , Obie? Who are _them_? Who was with my father? Tell me! TELL ME!”

The more the other man stood silent, the more Tony shouted hysteric, until he started to beat his fists over the other’s chest by shouting: “Tell me she was not with him! Tell me she’s fine! I want to see her! I want to go home! Obie, please, I want to go home!”

Rhodey was already crying for pain, while Stane blocked without efforts Tony’s fists, and looked him in the eyes while he said: “They’ve killed your mother as well, Tony! She… she was with him! They were directed to the airport… neither I know where they were going… I’m sorry, my boy! I’m deeply sorry!”

Tony’s scream would have persecuted Rhodey’s nightmares for a while.

Then he saw his best friend just swinging, like if all his energy life has been drained for him.

Two seconds and he collapsed down, and only thanks to Obadiah’s quick grab he didn’t fell with the face on the floor.

“I need to take him somewhere safe!” Rhodey heard Stane saying to the director.

“I make you the way… there will be a bit of chaos! There are journalists everywhere…”

They rushed out like he wasn’t even there.

“T...” Rhodey thought by falling on his knees and finally crying.

He was found twenty minutes later by other students who were doing search and rescue, and he was dragged to the hospital for shock.

They put him to sleep for a day, or so it was told by a Captain Harrison when he woke up and found the military officer in front of his bed.

The Army has opened a file over the assassination of the senior Starks and the attempt towards the young Anthony Edward Stark. And now they were interrogating everyone who has been near them or knew what they were working on, because the lab has exploded and the file were missing. And from what they heard, the young Stark was suffering of amnesia and several mental disturbs right now and he wasn’t enable to sustain an interrogation.

And Rhodey didn’t know exactly why but he felt he had to negate everything.

He said that he didn’t know what Tony was working on, that he had asked his assistance but basically to provide him coffees and food and to listen to his babbling every now and then. He has told him he was working on a top secret project, and thus he couldn’t talk about it. He seemed very excited though, but Tony was always very excited by new projects.

Then they asked if someone else went to the lab that evening, and Rhodey had to confess that he had seen professor Pym there when he had arrived with Tony’s dinner.

The Captain told him that Professor Pym has been seen driving away from the campus at high speed right before the explosion, and now nobody could find him.

Then the captain asked him why they weren’t in the lab and Rhodey revealed that Tony had hurt himself badly, and they needed to go to the sick bay. They were going to their room, while they heard the explosion, and the two bodyguards have dragged Tony in the panic room in director’s office.

“And why did you go with Mr. Stark in the panic room?” Captain kept asking.

“Because he wanted me to…” Rhodey explained, by starting to feel uncomfortable. “He was scared and didn’t know what was going on… so he asked me to stay with him…”

The Captain glanced at him a strange look.

“Are you homosexual, Mr. Rhodes?” he asked out of nothing.

“What? No!” he replied, confused. What was going on?

“You knew that there are rumors on young Mr. Stark’s... let’s call it lack of inhibition! You were his roommate, did he even try some inappropriate approaches to you?”

“No! He is… well, he’s a kid!” Rhodey has almost shouted, outraged.

“No need to shout, Mr. Rhodes!” the Captain replied, with a look of warning. He let a long minute passing on purpose before asking: “And you, Mr. Rhodes? Have you ever tried a sexual approach on Mr. Stark?”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?!” this time he was really furious.

The Captain stood up, impassible. “Mr. Rhodes, one other word like that and you would be prosecuted for outrage to the Army. Now, answer my question: did you or did you not have a sexual relationship with Mr. Stark at the time he was in this college?”

“He was 12 years old, for Christ’s sake! He’s a child!”

“Did you…”

“NO! I didn’t!! It was my friend! Tony is my friend!” he was crying, emotionally wasted. He felt dirty and ashamed that someone could ever thinking on something like that.

The Captain nodded, satisfied, and moved towards the room.

“You better control your temper, Mr. Rhodes!” he said before exiting. “This kind of attitude will not be tolerated in the Army! And before you asked: yes, your request has been accepted. Congratulations, Mr. Rhodes: you’re now a cadet of the US Army, officers’ school. Someone must have put a good word for you…”

He left.

Rhodey’s head was spinning.

Among all the things that had happened he had only one thought: what was going to happen to Tony?

_________________________________________________________________

Rhodes wouldn’t see Tony for at least 4 years.

All he knew, he knew from the press: how Tony suffered of “depression” (or so they called it) after his parents’ deaths, how his godfather Obadiah Stane was taking care of both him and the company, how Tony has almost completely disappeared from the public scene so that someone started to insinuate that he has died as well.

Then there was a sort of big economic crack of the Stark Industries, which risked to close.

And suddenly out of nowhere, Tony Stark reappeared with his amazing genius and wit, and everything came back to normal.

Despite the fact that now one of the most important company in weapons’ production was run by a 19 years old guy who looked like a teen with big brown eyes and a huge predisposition in creating explosive things.

Rhodes had never stopped trying to call him regularly, and finally once Tony answered the phone. They talked for hours. Well, Rhodey talked, and Tony just listened… which was really weird, but Rhodey didn’t noticed: he was simply too happy to have his friend back.

A few months later, Tony called again and invited him out of town.

Rhodey had thought to be able to finally spend time alone with his friend, but ‘alone’ was everything Tony never be: he has invited him to a party, actually, a huge one in a private mansion that Rhodes discovered was one of Tony’s home. There were celebrities, singers, actress, as well as politicians’ sons and daughters… to put it short, everyone that matters in that corner of the US.

And Rhodey felt like the fish out of water, and seriously considered leaving.

But then he heard Tony’s own voice from the stage, just shouting in the microphone: “And there, ladies and gentlemen, is my best friend: James Rhodes! Hey, Frank, tell your dad my friend deserves to be Colonel in a couple of years! Come on, Rhodey, don’t be shy and wave! Good soldier!”

If Rhodey could, he had disappeared the instant everyone has turned to him. He preferred not to be at the center of the stage, but he would have soon discovered that it was pretty impossible if you were Tony’s friend.

Then Tony himself grabbed him and offered him to drink.

He drank a lot, Rhodey noted.

But in the end, he too was made of flesh, and the party was very funny and unusual if compared to this life… he was an amazing night, spent in good company also when many of the guests have gone.

He woke up in what suspected was one of the main guest rooms, and he had a young blonde and, most of all, naked girl asleep next to him. He was naked too, he realized. He took him a couple of second to remember what has happened, and also to feel the notorious head pain of the hangovers.

He stood by paying attention not to wake the girl (Natalie? Nicole? Definitively something starting with N-), and looked for the bathroom. He found one decent enough, that is without vomit or used condoms on the floor, then he cleaned himself a bit and went down.

Downstairs was even messier than upstairs, and there were like five or six cleaning guys at work, all coordinated by a severe tall figure who looked very British.

“Mr. Jarvis!” Rhodey greeted him.

“Oh! Mister Rhodes… I was hoping to find you still here!” the old butler shook his hand with a smile. “Thank you for having called Tony during this time, it has meant a lot to him!”

Rhodey considered that despite those words Tony has never called him back… but whatever…

“Where is Tony?” he asked.

“Oh I guess Mr. Stark is still in the main bedroom with his latest conquests… we will discover number and sex of the guests around lunchtime, I guess.”

He seemed perfectly chill, while Rhodey was astonished by discovering that particular thing on Tony’s part: he has surely heard the rumors, but he has never believed them.

“I suggest you to come to terms with that quickly, Mr. Rhodes!” Jarvis told him, by glancing him a meaningful look. “Don’t make my same mistake…”

“I… okay… yes… It’s just… why did he never tell me?”

Jarvis’s eyes were a bit more indulgent this time while he replied: “I suspected for the same reason because Mr. Stark did the majority of the things he does: because he wants to please the others!”

“What does this…”

“HEY, SUNSHINE!” they heard Tony’s voice shouting from the stairs. He was wearing only underwear and red nightgown and he didn’t seem to have an hangover.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark, did you sleep well?” Jarvis asked as he was used to this view.

“Well, old pal, sleep wasn’t exactly what we did…”

“Then I should make you a double coffee, Mr. Stark. And, as I told you, I would appreciate if you don’t refer to me as “old pal”, sir!”

“As you wish, Jarvis, as you wish…” Tony laughed.

Then he looked at Rhodey and nodded him to follow outside. There was a huge pool in the garden and he looked messy as everything else around.

“How are you doing, Rhodey?” he asked, all of a sudden serious.

“Fine, I guess… the party was amazing! I mean there were these girls…”

“Yeah, I know, my parties are legendary! But I meant, how are you doing in your life? Is everything okay? Are your parents fine? Problems within the army?”

He sounded very concerned, and Rhodes didn’t get why.

Everything was just perfect in his life: he has graduated, entered the army within the officers, and his colonel was a very important man who treated him and all the other officers very good. He would have his first long-term mission next week, and he has been already told that they had great expectations over him.

“Yeah, I know…” Tony replied. “I mean, I know they should have great expectations over you! You’re brilliant!”

Rhodes for a moment thought on the possibility that Tony has something to do with everything good that was happening in his life.

“You deserved this, Rhodey!” Tony said, like he was reading his mind. “And before you ask, yes, I might have suggested your name once they asked… but you wouldn’t have had that command if you weren’t good! And for sure you haven’t graduated from MIT with that score because of me! You did everything by yourself because you are a brilliant guy… and sometimes I feel that’s but right that good things happen to good people!”

There was like an old wisdom in his voice, greatly contrasting with everything Tony appeared in that moment.

“Are you... are you all right, little T?” Rhodey asked, and he felt the small smile on Tony’s face at his nickname.

“I’ve been worse…” he said, mysteriously. He looked at the door, where Jarvis stood with his coffee, at a convenient distance not to hear their conversation. “Listen, Rhodey, we don’t have much time. I need you to promise me to take care of yourself… and do not stop calling me! I know, I haven’t answered for long… but, believe me, I had my reasons for this… Just let me know that my soldier is doing fine, okay?”

He patted his shoulder and went to take his coffee. Jarvis told something to him and Rhodey saw him frowning, and then disappearing inside without any further words.

To his surprise, Jarvis didn’t follow him, but went to Rhodey by holding something that looked like military tags. After a quick check, Rhodes realized he hasn’t his own anymore.

“My apologies, Mr. Rhodes, but these have been found on the floor next to Miss Coleman. I suspect that they belong to you!” the butler said.

“T- thanks, Mr. Jarvis!” Rhodey replied, extremely embarrassed.

“Don’t lose them, Mr. Rhodes! They are extremely important!”

And these were the last words Rhodey heard from Jarvis.

_____________________________________________________________

Ten months later, while he was in Israel as part of his general staff, Tony called and told him that Jarvis had died in a robbery while he was doing errands in town. It has happened a few weeks before, actually, but Tony didn’t want to talk about him before, and he didn’t seem in the mood of talking now either. He was obviously quite destroyed, and Rhodey wondered if his friend needed him by his side.

To his surprise Tony asked him to remain where he was and he said he didn’t have to worry for him.

“Jarvis was old and sooner or later that had to happen…” he said, but he had a knot in his throat.

It was so strange to hear those words from Tony’s mouth, that Rhodey thought that there was something bigger going on. Something that Tony didn’t want to talk about.

“You know you can count on me, right, little T?” he said.

“I know, Rhodey” his friend sighed as an answer. “And I’m already doing. Just stay safe and keep going with your life… and maybe when you are on leave pass by my home! There’s always a party going on and a place for my former roommate!”

And Rhodey visited Tony every time he had a leave and he didn’t have to go back home for holiday season.

He was quite surprised when one day he found out that Tony had enrolled a new personal assistant, a young and ginger-head girl named Virginia Potts, but universally known as “Pepper”.

Rhodey and Potts went along very fine since the beginning, and the big guy could said that Tony was a bit jealous. He was like being pushed back in time when Tony was a bit jealous of how his father, Mr. Stark senior, looked and talked with Rhodes that time at MIT. But Tony has always been good not to let his childish jealousy prevail, and so he and Rhodey went out together more than once while Pepper simply relaxed. She later confessed to Rhodes that she really needed some free time to be on her own, and she was always very glad when he was around to take care of Tony.

Rhodes thought that Pepper understood the very essence of Tony: a genius and brilliant guy, sometimes closed to a loud-mouth brat, but inside an insecure child who was starving for appreciation and, most of all, for love. As someone else would have said, Tony Stark was a man who had everything and yet nothing at all.

To Rhodes it didn’t come as a surprise to hear the rumor that Tony and Potts were possibly a couple, and then to read about their new fancy house in Malibu being described as their “love escape”. He smiled at the idea of his Little T having finally fallen in love, and was really glad that this person was miss Potts.

When Rhodey passed to visit them, he got immediately that Ton fancied Pepper greatly. It was pretty evident by the way he looked at her, and also by the incredible fact that he listened to her! That would have marked the first time Tony listened to someone other than Jarvis!

“It’s such a cliché, T!” Rhodey mocked him. “The billionaire and the secretary!”

“Oh cut the crap!” the other replied, but he was blushing till the point of the ear.

“And what’s this fancy beard you are growing again here! Last time you have cut it!”

“What? I’m a man now! And Pepper said I’m looking good!”

“Oooh if Pepper said soooo…”

“Stop it, Rhodey!” Tony was laughing.

Rhodey thought he has never seen him laughing like this in a long while… maybe since after their first months at MIT.

They went out for lunch together with Pepper and Tony’s bodyguard, a very nice man called Harold but that for everyone was “Happy”… and Rhodey could perfectly understand why, since the guy seemed to emanate positive feelings. No doubts Tony was fond of him!

They had a very pleasant afternoon, and Rhodey was very sorry to have to leave them. But for once he left with a smile, by thinking that his little brother’s life has finally turned fine.

However, that peace lasted only a couple of months, though, when Rhodey was informed by Internet that Tony and Pepper had broken up, badly apparently. According to the scandal journals, his genial friend has started back his eccentric life style, with alcohol abuse and people coming and going in his bed every nights.

Tony was also famous for his shows with the press and with his Board members, as far as the other major officers were saying.

In the meanwhile, Rhodes has become Colonel, thanks to great success of a couple of mission on field and on the diplomatic side: he has discovered to be a good diplomat, and an excellent coordinator and his troops respected him greatly.

For once, he was sure that Tony Stark’s name had had nothing to do in his promotion, and so he was doubly proud of himself.

And Tony had sent him a postcard, handwritten with his congratulations, and some weird drawings of music notes and what seemed a tower… like in the game of chess!

Rhodey tried to call Tony to get the meaning of that drawing, but his friend never fully explained and every time he changed topic. Rhodes quickly dropped the issue, because he had more important concerns.

But without telling anyone, but he carried that postcard with him in his wallet everywhere, even on missions.

_______________________________________________

He was working hard in his new assignment, somewhere on the Afghani mountains. They were tailgating a group of terrorists, that according to the intel should have been in order of 10 or 12 guys with poor fire power.

Instead, their explorers have referred they had a bunch of most modern army, some of them look dangerously like those new Jericho missiles he has heard Stark Industries was producing for the Army.

He had indeed tried to contact Tony but he hadn’t answered. Which was not unusual, generally speaking, but now his silence was suspicious, especially because the Army high ranks have declared not to have yet received the Jericho missiles Stark has promised them.

“In what kind of mess have you thrown yourself, little T?!?” Rhodey thought. He has just finished a 2 hours conversation with a bunch of very pissed generals who needed those missiles and have found out that the enemy had the same weapons they were supposed to be delivered them the incoming week.

Rhodey was trying to take a coffee to calm down a bit, when a young Indian woman entered his room without knocking. She was a civilian, by judging from his dress, but she showed him something that look like a military ticket. He didn’t recognize the division, though.

“My apologies, colonel Rhodes,” she said very politely. “I need you to follow me immediately. Central orders!”

It wasn’t unusual for civilians to work for the Army. What it was weird was that a civilian shouldn’t have commonly the power to give a colonel “central orders”. But here stood this young lady, holding him a piece of paper with a look of extreme urgency.

Rhodey took the paper and carefully read everything. There were no doubts about that: those were really orders from the above and they were summoning him back to Washington DC with extreme urgency. He couldn’t refrain himself to think that it had to deal with all Jericho missiles… and that was also related to his friendship with Tony Stark!

Hundreds of hypothesis were making their ways in his mind, and the scenario was always a bad one. Not that he ever suspected Tony to have played both sides, but surely that was something strange going on. And even if it hasn’t been Tony itself, those were Stark Industries weapons, and his Little T should be in serious troubles.

So he wasn’t really expecting the Indian girl to bring him on a helicopter, alone. If he was suspected of complicity in terrorism, as it was his main hypothesis right now, there should have been at least a dozen guards.

His astonishment doubled when after the helicopter, the Indian girl guided him to a fighter, and she jumped on the controls, by waving him to take the back seat.

“But what-?” he tried to ask. Something really unusual was going on.

“Not now, Colonel!” the girl replied. “It’s a matter of life and death… and not only yours!”

And Rhodey just sat there, watching at the young woman perfectly taking off and aiming west. They were flying silently, when their radio cracked and a male harsh voice asked: “Shapandar! Have you secured the Tower?”

“Yes, Director Fury!” Rhodey heard the woman answering on the radio. “Colonel Rhodes is secured. We’ll arrive at the SHIELD base in the Mediterranean in 40 minutes!”

“Good work, Shapandar! You’ll find Stark’s private jet there to take the Colonel back home. The Bishop gambit has just started, so the game is on. Never lost sight on him. I repeat: the game is on. Keep the Tower safe!”

That was pretty confusing!

For a moment, Rhodey thought to have been kidnapped in the most stupid possible way!

But then he remembered two facts. Number one: Fury was the director of an extra-government international agency called SHIELD, and he has heard his name in very positive ways. So that at least was true. Number two: on the postcard Tony had sent him there was the drawing of a tower… coincidence?

He could almost hear Pepper’s voice telling him with a smile: “We don’t believe in coincidences, Colonel!”

“I suppose you have questions, Colonel!” Instead of Pepper, he heard the Indian girl telling him.

“Actually…” he started.

“Not now!” she cut him off again. “Unfortunately for you, we have to wait until we were on Stark’s private jet back home!”

And so they did. But his patience was at its limit the moment Rhodey put foot on Tony’s private jet (he recognized it immediately, because it was the only one to have a pool dance on the back!).

So they have just entered the cruise modality, when he turned to the Indian woman and asked: “Now I expect a full explanation, Miss… Shapandar right?”

“Karima Shapandar” she replied. “Lieutenant, actually. I work for Director Nick Fury at the SHIELD. Please, sit comfortably and took something strong to drink. I will explain you what’s happening and then you can ask me everything. However, I have to warn you that I may not have all the information you might want to, but I suggest you give it a try. Okay, let’s start from the beginning, that’s to say when Howard Stark died… and most of all WHY he lost his and his wife’s lives!”

Rhodey had indeed to drink while he heard her explaining how there was a huge conspiracy going on at the Stark Industries, which involved the vice-CEO Obadiah Stane. Rhodey took the note that he has never liked the guy, but what miss Shapandar was telling him was beyond his imagination!

Apparently, Stane was playing both sides for decades, by selling first Howard’s and then Tony’s weapons not only to the military but also to a huge bunch of terroristic association, which included AIM, Hydra and the Ten Rings.

Howard Stark has also found out Stane’s connection within the Government and for that he has been killed. And the same has happened to Jarvis years later.

But Tony has continued to put the pieces together, thanks to Jarvis, both the man and then the AI: he has taken him years to find every piece of evidence and secured it through different channels, including some his friend’s personal objects.

“Tell me, Colonel,” the agent asked, “do you remember to have once briefly lost your military tags at Stark’s house?”

He frowned. Yes, he had thought to have lost them after a night of passion, and Jarvis (the man) had found them… and what he has said? “Never lost them again. They are extremely important…”

“Yes, I guess you got that right. Stark has entered a microchip or something containing very valuable information, without which we would be unable to secure to justice every traitors still on American soil! And the big boss behind Stane himself! And Mr. Stark must have sent you the code to access the data few weeks ago, just in case Stark himself won’t be able to access them again. Did he do that, didn’t he?”

Rhodey thought that he had had no communication with Tony since when he has sent him that weird postcard… wait, the postcard!

It took it out of his wallet, and gave to the agent who examined it for a while.

“Those notes are weird…” she stated. “That must be the code… and there is the Tower, you see? It’s like a game of chess, Colonel! For years Tony Stark has played with a few pawns… himself included! And now the final match has started: in the following 12 hours we will cut Stane’s network by arresting everyone who has collaborated with him during the years, whoever and wherever they are. We are talking also about senators, generals, and head of the major terroristic organizations around the world! And all thanks to your friend, Mr. Rhodes! Soon we will be able to identify also many of Stane’s terrorist friends who had already received the Jericho missiles: there’s a code inside them which activated at a precise call from Stark. I don’t know more about it, and I suspect neither did Director Fury himself. Stark trusted us, but not completely… which I don’t blame him for! If I have been abused since I was a child by my godfather I will probably reacted the same…”

“Wait what?!?” Rhodes has jumped on his chair. “What did you just say?”

She was staring intensively at him. “About the Jericho missiles, Colonel?”

“Not that! Who cares?! About Tony… Tony and Stane… the abuses…”

But deep down he knew the answer.

It has been in front of his eyes for all those years, starting from that night were his little T was so worried to be alone because of monsters, every time he mumbled that song, when Stane casually passed by MIT for a business meeting and T. disappeared for days, and finally when he came to “rescue” him after… after Tony’s parents have been killed!

And there has been an explosion in the lab, and only by chance they weren’t in the lab! And Howard Stark’s bodyguards have protected Tony with their lives, and then Stane has ‘secured’ Tony for years… he had said Tony was depressed, mentally instable, that he was unable to take care of himself! But mysteriously two years later Tony was leading his company and they were just doing great. And then Jarvis has died in that robbery…

Rhodey’s head was spinning. “Stupid!” he screwed himself between his teeth. “I’ve been a damn stupid!”

He found a glass of whisky in his hand, gently poured by Lieut. Shapandar.

“It’s a lot to digest!” she said. “And don’t blame yourself. Stark is a good liar… but it’s a very brave man! I don’t know many people ready to risk their lives the way he’s doing right now with Stane!”

Rhodey paled. “Lieutenant” he whispered, “tell me what exactly was Tony doing right now?”

And when he heard of the whole plan, the whole game of chess Tony had played for years with them as pawns, Jarvis the man, Jarvis the AI, Pepper, Rhodes, even Happy… and that the final match has just started with a dangerous move, the gambit of the white Bishop, a move he had already tried and miserably failed once... And that all depended by way too many variables…

Rhodey was crying without shame.

And Shapandar was saying nothing because he got his feelings. She was constantly checking her phone but they’ve received no news.

And Rhodey silently started to play for his little T, the genius childish Tony he has learnt to love like a brother since day 1 in college. He prayed and cried for him to survive, even if he knows that the odds were against him.

Because in all his amazing game, Tony has never been the white King, but the Bishop!

And the whole point of a gambit was to be ready to sacrifice a pawn for the final victory… And Rhodey knew at heart that Tony was really ready to make that sacrifice!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey for me as always been the most loyal friend one can ask for. I hope to have been able to transmit this feeling in this short story.  
> Now we move a bit back and again a bit forward with "The Golden Boy/part 2".   
> Why Tony came back at MIT? What happened to him after his parents' death? And what happened to Jarvis? Next stories will connect the dots, before moving to the finale.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying. Please, let me know your thoughts :D

**Author's Note:**

> The song "Soldier, Poet, King" referred here is by Oh Hellos! and it's mentioned through the series and especially in "The Golden Boy/part 1". The title of the chapter is the first lyric of the song.  
> Let me know what you think... and wait for the second chapter when the big plot moves on!


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